“How, when… why?” he asks, scratching his head.
“It’s complicated,” I say, fiddling with the loose thread on the cushion.
He continues pacing like a caged animal. “I need a drink. Do you need a drink? I’ll get us a whiskey. Shit, you can’t have whiskey. Tea? Can pregnant women drink tea?” he rambles.
“Yes, we can drink tea.” I huff, rolling my eyes. “Please sit down,” I beg, gripping his wrist and tugging him back down on the couch.
“Are you okay?” he asks, with a tenderness to his tone that has my eyes burning with unshed tears.
“I’m scared,” I admit.
“So, this thing with Noah, it’s serious?”
I give my first genuine smile since I landed in New York earlier today.
“Yeah. He’s excited about the baby. It was unexpected, so we have things to figure out, but he says he’s in it for the long haul, so you don’t need to worry,” I reassure Harry.
He shakes his head. “I never doubted that. Noah is one of the best guys I know. He’ll be there for you, just like he always has, it seems.”
“I love him, Harry. After Trent, I didn’t think I’d love again, but Noah, he feels…” I swipe the tear rolling down my cheek. “He feels like he’s my person, you know?”
He nods. “I get it. I felt that way about Ali.”
“The love you two have, that’s what I want, and I think I’ll have that with Noah.” A wave of guilt hits me, and my stomach curls into a tight fist.
“I know you miss him, and we’ll never forget him,” Harry says, knowing what I was thinking and feeling at that very moment. Call it our twin–tuition. “But it’s okay to move on, to be happy again, and I couldn’t think of a better man than Noah for you to be with.”
I wrap my arms around my brother, squeezing him tightly, silently thanking him for being everything I needed and dissolving some of my fears.
Maybe this is all going to work out after all.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Noah
I remained in the den, too terrified to leave until I had a sense of how Harry was taking the news. When Ali left to go check on them and didn’t return, I started making an escape plan.
He’s going to kill me.
I can’t say I blame him. I know how it feels to learn one of your best friends has been with your sister, but once the dust settled, I was thankful it was Jack, because I knew he would be everything Ria needed and more. I just hope Harry can see the same thing. The door to the den creaks open, and panic floods my body. I do my best to brace myself for whatever Harry throws my way.
He takes a slow, silent walk over to the couch and sits down, adjusting his pants and picking invisible specks of lint off them.
“Noah,” he says, addressing me with a firm tone.
“Harry.”
“So…” I wait, fidgeting in my seat.
“I—” I try to say, but he cuts me off.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he asks, with a glimmer of hurt in his tone.
The question I was dreading comes with so many answers.
“I guess the easiest way to explain it all is that we grew closer over the years, and I tried to fight it, I really did, but…”
“She’s my sister, Noah, my twin sister,” he says with hurt in his eyes.
